Atlanta exhibit features married artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera

Sunday

Mar 3, 2013 at 12:01 AM

The powerful works and rocky relationship of two of the 20th century's most significant artists, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, are explored in "Frida & Diego: Passion, Politics & Painting," which opened Valentine's Day and will be on display through May 12 at the High Museum of Art.

By ANYA MARTINFor the Herald-Journal

ATLANTA — The powerful works and rocky relationship of two of the 20th century's most significant artists, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, are explored in “Frida & Diego: Passion, Politics & Painting,” which opened Valentine's Day and will be on display through May 12 at the High Museum of Art.What happens when two dynamic artists come together as a couple?“Frida and Diego are two very strong personalities that collided to be stronger together than each other on their own,” said Ignacio Cadena, who designed one of two special installations near Kahlo's work. “It's a wonderful love story that is timeless.”“Frida & Diego” marks the first time any sizable overview of the duo's works has been staged in the Southeast. The museum also is the only U.S. venue for this exhibition.More than 120 works are displayed in “Frida & Diego,” including paintings spanning the couple's lives, photographs and the two “reading room” installations inspired by Kahlo's writing about colors red and yellow and designed by contemporary Mexican artists Cadena and Hector Esrawe.For much of the 20th century, Rivera's work was much better known. But today Kahlo is the subject of numerous books and films, and her self-portraits appear on everything from magnets to T-shirts.The museum has wanted to present a Kahlo and Rivera exhibition for years, but faced a challenge because her work amounted to fewer than 150 paintings, many of which were in private collections and difficult to borrow, said David Brenneman, director of collections and exhibitions at the museum.“For us to put together an exhibition of about a quarter of her output was an amazing opportunity,” he added. “It's our first major exhibition of classic Latin-American artists.”By the time Rivera commenced a 25-year marriage to the much younger Kahlo in 1929, he was producing the politically motivated murals for which he is best known.Since the mural works are too large to travel, exhibit-goers are treated to smaller pieces with similar themes of Mexican peasant life, and a smaller version of “Man at the Crossroads.” That famous piece was commissioned by Nelson Rockefeller for the Rockefeller Center in New York.

Kahlo's art includes not only examples of her now iconic self-portraits but also her lesser known still-life paintings.The accompanying text and audio tour places the art in the context of the artists' lives and motivations. Their communist political ideologies certainly brought them together and influenced their works, but even more powerful are the constant allusions to Kahlo's own physical and emotional suffering.Kahlo was in a bus accident at age 18, which left her in constant physical pain and unable to bear children. That regret runs through her works.Mixed in with the artwork are photos of the couple themselves, their studios and their home life.One black-and-white image by Peter A. Juley at the start of the exhibit particularly communicates the sharp contrast in physical size, look and age between the two. The picture also documents Kahlo's deep affection for Rivera — evidence of surprising vulnerability in a female artist whose imagery is so strong and powerful.A tall, portly man, hardly handsome and wearing a nondescript shirt and pants, Rivera pose with one arm at his waist and the other embracing Kahlo. Meanwhile a petite Kahlo, looking young and feminine, leans closely against his shoulder and tenderly rests one hand on his belly.Did Rivera love Kahlo as much as she loved him? That's a question viewers will likely wonder, but the paintings by Rivera after Kahlo's death in 1954, including one of an empty beach, do seem stark, simple and lonely in contrast to the majority of his career.The museum has planned an extensive schedule of complementary programs, including curator lectures, parties, teen's and children's activities and a film series of works by Mexican filmmakers, including cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa and director Carlos Reygadas.For more information, visit www.high.org.

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